In addition to permanently installed X-ray facilities, mobile X-ray facilities, for example so-called mobile C-arms are known, that include a carrier provided with a mobility facility, for example wheels, and thus may be moved and positioned freely in the room. In terms of performance, in the case of both 2D imaging and 3D imaging, such mobile X-ray facilities are increasingly similar to permanently installed X-ray facilities and when the mobility facility is also assigned a propulsion facility, may be configured as self-propelled, thus providing a patient table or the like to be approached with a high degree of accuracy or also highly reliable repositioning. An advantage of such mobile X-ray facilities is increased flexibility since the mobile X-ray facility may be removed from the room if required and/or moved into a less disruptive position that may be useful when examinations and/or interventions are to be performed on the patient.
In the case of permanently installed X-ray facilities, for example angiographic systems with one or two permanently installed C-arms, the use of the room is defined for specific applications. For example, in the case of a permanently installed biplane X-ray facility operated with only one of the two recording assemblies (single plane operation) and when the recording assembly that is not required and the C-arm are put into a parked position, it is not possible for the permanently installed X-ray facilities to be completely removed from the clinical area and hence the work of the staff in the examination or treatment room may be impeded. A combination of a permanently installed biplane angiography X-ray facility with a sliding-gantry CT facility is also known where a patient table is configured to be rotatable by 90° to switch between modalities. This is necessary since the C-arm of the biplane angiography X-ray facility, that is permanently mounted on the floor, cannot be moved out of the patient axis and thus it is necessary for the sliding-gantry CT X-ray facility to be positioned rotated by 90° relative to the biplane angiography X-ray facility. A sliding-gantry CT X-ray facility includes where the gantry maybe guided along rails, for example between two adjacent rooms.
Therefore, biplane X-ray facilities require more space that also results in an awkward workflow in the case of a combined biplane angiography/CT apparatus.
In addition to diagnostic angiography, simultaneous imaging in different recording geometries (“multiplane imaging”) may also be useful in many fields of application, for example, with image-guided minimally invasive interventions on a patient. For example, the progress of pedicle screws in the spine, the progress of needles in the lungs/liver, the advancement of catheters in the heart/brain may be monitored from different viewing angles, for example, different projection angles, in order to avoid incorrect positioning and/or even injuries to sensitive parts of the anatomy.
Permanently installed biplane angiography X-ray facilities, that may, for example, include two C-arms each with assigned recording assemblies, are already known and are widely used. However, it has been found that, especially in situations in which costs should or must be saved, due to the mobile X-ray facilities, workaround solutions are sought with which two independent mobile X-ray facilities with C-arms are used and operated manually as a biplane system. However, this is extremely problematic if, for example, the C-arms with the recording assemblies provided thereon are to be rotated with the same angular velocity and in the same direction. Two people may be used to move the C-arms at the same speed in response to spoken commands. Human interaction entails iterative correction steps and does not guarantee a perfectly perpendicular view or a fixed angular difference of 45°. However, multiple correction steps entail a higher radiation dose, increased use of contrast agents, a longer recording time and additional staffing requirements.
However, it is also possible to use only one single C-arm with a recording assembly. The C-arm has to be moved together with the recording assembly between at least two different positions and angles. This option is extremely complex, takes a lot of time and is also dangerous since the movement has to take place around the patient, who is covered with a sterile cover and connected to other appliances, for example respirators, microscopes, endoscopes, navigation systems and the like. The need for very frequent changes between anterior-posterior positioning and lateral positioning entails immense effort.
A further problem is encountered when fixed and/or mobile X-ray facilities include an additional “monitor trolley” on which, for example, a depiction facility and an operating facility for the respective X-ray facility may be provided. The use of a plurality of X-ray facilities also requires a plurality of such monitor trolleys even though the space available inside examination and/or treatment rooms is frequently already tight.